Commercial package



May 9, 1939- H. J. QUlNLAN COMMERCIAL PACKAGE Filed July 24, 1936 D Zblworn JOHN LSV ZEC EAW'T.

NEM /Cld/ CII( d.. bu, D Zuwfr F INVENT OR. HOLL/5 J QU/N/.AN

ORNEYS Patented May 9,1939

COMMERCIAL rACKAGE I H011isJ-.Quin1an', East cleveland, ohiojassignr 'of one-half to, Herbert Stratford, Cleveland,

fOhio `This invention" relates to av commercial package`,`a`ridparticularly to book-,matches or thelike u which are used ifor advertisingpurposes. Y j

Ithas been found that ordinaryboo'k matches, ofthe paper-cover type,v have, been veryV effective `as a medium ofadvertising; 'Ihese'match 'books are distributed indiscriminately Iover large areas, and thereby come into` thepossession'of many ject matter ofthe advertisingl they contain.` V One diiiiculty arises, hovvever, in that the person interested rin such ,advertisement will vnot be stimulated to investigate the subject of the` advertisement further, unless the means fordoing so are l5 conveniently accessible. 'On the "f otherV hand,

many biis'iness'huses have found thataself-,ad-

dressed business reply vcard has been Vvery effective inobtaining replies from peoplefwho are interested in products that have been vvvidelyuad" vertise'd. l In this manner of ,doingbusinesa the personsolicited'is not required todo anything excetindicate his desire for further information on the subject matter which constitutes the advertisernent. [As the ,business reply cardisiselff addressed, ,it'isoo'nly necesary for the person into Whose possessionit comes,to subscribe'his' name address .thereo`n,f so thatthe information `be mailed to him directly or be delivered by personalcontact.

Having in" mind the wide -circulation Yof the ordinary match book, andalsothe effectiveness of the business reply card, it is therefore the primary object rof my invention to bring these two media 4of advertising effort together in the large field of distribution covered by the ordinary match booklet.

It is a further object of my invention to combine a business reply `card with a book of matches to form an article which can be manufactured 40 in large quantities at a small cost, and which will not lose the desired compactness of commercial match books now in use.

A further object is to provide a combined match book'cover and postal card in such manner as to 45 Vconform with the standards of match book manufacture and postal department requirements.

Further and more specific objects of my invention will appear from the following description 50 given in connection with the accompanying drawing, where Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a match book, illustrating my invention; Fig. 2 is a centrally located section, taken along the line 2 2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a business reply 66 card used in connection with my invention; Fig.

`enpl'e who may be interested casually in the sub-l 4 is aplanvie'vv of aflded cardfwith amatch strip secured theretoj Fig. l5 is a planvievv of the reply card, after being detachedfrm the match strip for mailing, and `Fig. 6 is a plan View of a business, reply card,illustratingrano'ther forrnof 5 my invention." 'n ""fm `Referring now toFigs. liad2, I have -show'n a match book having a strip' of matches I, a cover 2, and aback 3. A portion ofthe'backv is doubled around thevbase ofthe match-strip to 10 form thestrikingsurface 4", and is secured to the match strip'and the Vback by means of a staple' inthe well-known manner.` f

In Fig. v3 I have illustrated'a business reply ca rd 6 which is used to form the cover, back and strikl5 ing surface respectively. of the" match book. lI have found thatfor' thisV purpose, abusiness'reply card which will meet the postal regulations as to sazev, can be utilized to advantage in that when it is foldedonce lengthwise. the doubled portion will `zo be of suiicient Width tolcover the "ordinary match strip of commercial match books, which are 'now inuse. It' isV advantageous from a manufacturing standpoint` to fold the" cover to a standard vvidth,` so that commercial `machinery now inuse 25 may be readily adpated to assemble myo'invention in large production quantities, Thecard 6, as illustratedin Fig. 3, contains the returnaddress on the upper sidev 1 and suitable advertising xnaterial on the reverse side 8; Atab Q'is formed on 30 one end of the card, 'to provide `sufficient area for the striking surface 4, after'thej same has been doubled around the base ofthe match strip l. In the forms shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the tab 9 is cut so that it is only one-half of the Width of the card, and may be disposed adjacent either the top or bottom edge thereof. Perforatlons are provided along the line Ill, so that the card may be easily detached after -the tab has been secured to the match strip. 40

As illustrated in Fig. 4, the card is folded so that the edge I5 will overlie the edge I6, thereby placing the return address on the side l1 within the fold and the advertising material on the outside thereof. The match strip I is then secured to the tab 9 by means of the usual staple 5. When l the match book is thus assembled, the 'card may be unfolded for observation without detaching the same from the match book, as illustrated by the broken lines in Fig. 4. y

In order to detach the advertising material appearing on the outside cover of the match book, it is only necessary to tear it from the match strip along the perforated line IU. The party desiring this information may then subscribe his name and address on the back of the card 8, as illustrated in Fig. 5, and request any other information which he desires to be sent to him by return mail.

While I have shown in the drawing the type of advertising in which the party interested merely checks one of the items, about which he is seeking information, my invention may be adapted for use in any type of advertising. The card 6, when unfolded, is of sufficient size to meet the postal requirements of business reply cards, and should not be less than two andthree-fourths inches wide by four inches long, when detached. The card also possesses greater space for carrying advertising material which is not available on commercial match books now in use. Other forms of my invention may include return information on cards or letters of various sizes,

but the postal reply card is the most satisfactory because it is self-addressed with postage paid.

To facilitate production of match books in large quantities, I have adapted another form of my invention as illustrated in Fig. 6. The tab 9 and thevperforations l0 are disposed across the entire width of the card. Thus, when the card is folded lengthwise, the perforations will overlie one another. The card may then be detached from the match strip in the same manner as before described, that is, by tearing it along the perforations I0, which are now doubled.

The cards illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6, may be cut either individually or remain in a continuous strip, depending upon the machinery which is used for assembling the match book. By the latter method, the card may be printed and perforated before entering the match book machine. Thereafter, the continuous strip may be folded and the match strip applied and stapled, to be followed by the cutting off operation.

It may thus be seen that I have invented a new and useful advertising device, which will take advantage of the extensive circulation of the commercial match books now in use,v and combine therein the'qualities of the business reply card or other return information in soliciting replies from people who are interested in such advertising material. j

-It should be understood that while I have shown the embodiment of my invention in the form of a match book, nevertheless the same can be utilized in connection with the distribution of various articles of commerce which are either being sold or given away to feature advertising matter, such as tooth picks, golf tees and other utilitarian articles, which are adaptable to packaging in match-book form.

I claim:

1..A commercial package comprising a strip of detachable merchandise, a cover for said merchandise formed of a postal reply card folded into a double form whereby a single fold is produced in the card and the width of the package is one-half of the open card, and one end of said formybeing extended around the base portion of the strip, 'a staple for securing the cover to the strip, and said folded cover having a series of perforations dispos-ed in both thicknesses thereof and located' above the staple to facilitate removal of the cover from the strip, without tearing the same so that it may be unfolded and be returned through the mails.

2. A commercial package comprising a strip of detachable merchandise, a cover for said merchandise formed of a card folded into a double form whereby a single fold is produced in the card and the width of the package is one-half of the open card, a tab projecting outwardly from one end of one leaf of the folded cover and extending across one half of the width of the card when unfolded, a staple for securing the tab to the base of the strip, and said folded covei` having a series of perforations disposed along the line adjoining the tab to the card and above the point of attachment of the staple, to facilitate removal of the cover from the strip after the merchandise has been detached, without ,tearing the same so Athat it may be unfolded and be returned through the mails.

3. A commercial package comprising a flexible generally rectangular sheetfolded'on a median line to bring two of its edges together, said sheet having a foldable extension at one end joined thereto by a weakened line, a strip of merchandise having one end thereof embraced within a fold of said extension and its other end embraced within a fold of the double sheet formed transversely to the median line aforesaid, a staple passing through the end of the strip embraced by the extension and through both thicknesses of the extension beyond the weakened line aforesaid, whereby to facilitate afiixing the strip to the cover by the'staple and removal of the cover from the strip along the weakened line without mutilating the cover, and the cover being `0l' such size and shape as to be transmittable through the mail when detached from the merchandise and unfolded to its fiat condition.

HOLLIS J. QUINLAN. 

